How Cop Land Nearly Ended Stallone’s Hollywood Reign
Sylvester Stallone’s acclaimed turn in Cop Land was meant to revive his career, but instead left him struggling for roles and respect in Hollywood for years.
There’s a certain nostalgia in recalling stars at their finest, and few embody this more than Sylvester Stallone. In his prime, Stallone was the epitome of the action hero—charismatic, inventive, and utterly compelling. His journey from minor roles and unsuccessful auditions to penning the first draft of Rocky after witnessing a Muhammad Ali bout is the stuff of legend. That underdog boxing drama didn’t just launch his career; it transformed him into a household name, earning ten Oscar nominations and setting the stage for a decade of dominance with titles like Rambo, Cobra, and Escape to Victory.
The 1980s saw Stallone locked in a friendly rivalry with Arnold Schwarzenegger, each trying to outdo the other in terms of on-screen spectacle. Their competitive banter spilled into the press, and before long, they were co-owning Planet Hollywood with Bruce Willis. Sequels to Rocky and Rambo became annual events, each one a box office triumph. Even as the 1990s rolled in, Stallone managed to stay relevant, despite the odd misstep—Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot comes to mind—thanks to blockbusters such as Demolition Man and Cliffhanger.
Cop Land: A Turning Point
By 1997, Stallone took on a role that marked a significant shift. Cop Land required a more subdued, weighty performance, casting him as a small-town sheriff in New Jersey up against the mob, sharing the screen with the likes of Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel. The film was well received, and critics commended Stallone for stepping back and allowing others to shine. Yet, this very departure from his established persona proved costly. Casting agents began to doubt his viability as a leading man. As Stallone himself recalled in an interview with AARP,
“Nobody wanted me after Cop Land. Even my agents. I was fired from CAA (Agency). My personal manager at the time let me go. He said, ‘I can’t do anything for you. Nobody really wants you anymore.’ And I go, ‘How’d this happen?’… I was told these studios feel as though you’re not what you were. Time has passed. Your genre is over. For almost a decade, I couldn’t find work.”
Years in the Wilderness
For nearly ten years, Stallone found himself adrift. He appeared in a lacklustre remake of Get Carter and took on a villainous role in Spy Kids 3D, but genuine success eluded him. The industry seemed to have moved on, and the roles that once came so easily were now out of reach. It was a humbling period, marked by professional setbacks and a sense of being out of step with the times.
Eventually, Stallone decided to return to familiar territory. He explained,
“I wanted to go back to Rocky – I thought, Let me try one more, because that was my safe place. But there I am, 60 years old, and the previous one, Rocky V, was an abject failure, so the original producers didn’t want to do the sixth film. They said, basically, ‘Over our dead bodies.’ Even my wife was going, ‘I don’t know if it’s such a good idea.’”
Redemption and Revival
Despite the doubts, Stallone pressed on. Rocky Balboa, released in 2006, was both a critical and commercial success, earning over $150 million on a modest budget. Stallone wrote, directed, and starred in the film, re-establishing himself in the public eye. This resurgence paved the way for another Rambo instalment and the launch of The Expendables franchise, which brought together a host of action legends and proved a hit with audiences throughout the 2010s.